


tired of being alone

by BookRockShooter



Series: post s6 things to help me cope [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Friendship, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Adoptive Siblings, M/M, Minor Swearing, Post-Canon, Post-Season/Series 06, broganes, i guess?, lance's Realization is confusing him and Keith has no idea what's going on, slight angst, technically, they're brothers okay, ugh tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-09 18:08:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15273276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookRockShooter/pseuds/BookRockShooter
Summary: Keith hasn't spoken to Lance in a few days, and he thinks it's because the other boy is ignoring him. He finds out that that's not the case, but the truth doesn't make him feel any better.-*post s6*





	tired of being alone

**Author's Note:**

> I know I keep saying this but I hATE titles smh they don't even make sense anymore I'm sorry-
> 
> aH I was thisclose to giving up on this series bc I didn't know how to continue it but then I was hit with an Idea and wrote this so yay this series isn't dead yet hopefully that makes some people happy lmao
> 
> anywayyy yes here's part 5 to this, it's,, okay I think idrk ahh hopefully y'all like it tho? Lemme know!

“I don’t understand,” Keith says, pulling at his bangs harshly and definitely not whining. “Did- did I _do_ something? Lance isn’t talking to me, Shiro. What the hell?”

He’s trying to keep his voice down because Krolia is asleep in the corner of the cockpit, curled up with Yorak. The sight makes Keith smile, but it doesn’t help him forget about the fact that Lance – someone who he now cares for as strongly as he does for Shiro, and who he has long accepted that he has feelings for – is _ignoring_ him.

Shiro just frowns, looking more concerned than he has in a long time. _Of course, since he… hasn’t exactly been around in a long time,_ Keith reminds himself, shutting his eyes for a moment. But he’s back with them now, and that’s what matters. He’s here to go back to Earth with them, and help them fight… and apparently help Keith with his stupid boy problems. He feels his face screw up at the thought. “Freaking _Lance,_ ” he mutters; the crack in his voice takes out the venom in his words.

“If it helps, he hasn’t been talking to anyone else, either,” Shiro says in a soft voice, and he looks sadder than Keith realized. He forgets, sometimes, that Lance is cared for by the entire team and not just him. He just hopes that Lance knows that, too.

“Not really,” Keith replies, “but thanks, I guess, for trying. What do you think his problem is?”

Keith’s mentor shrugs. “I have a few ideas, but I’d need to talk to him to know for sure. Here, let me contact Pidge and Hunk and see if he’s talked to them yet. It’s only been two days, though, so who knows?”

“I know,” Keith says, frustrated. “I just- it’s stupid, because he’s literally _right there_ -” He gestures towards where Red is outside, flying to their left. “-but… I miss talking to him. It was bad enough being away from h- everyone, while I was with the Blade for so long. But I’ve gotten used to him, and it’s- it’s weird.” He makes an embarrassed noise at his confession and drops his head. “Ugh. I hate him, Shiro. He’s the worst. Why is he… _like_ that?”

Shiro seems to be fighting a grin when Keith finally looks at him again, and Keith narrows his eyes, debating – just for a second – throwing his helmet at him. “I don’t know, Keith,” he says, and yeah, he’s definitely becoming more amused by Keith than anything else. Keith groans and covers his face with his hands. “You don’t act like you hate him. In my opinion, I’d even say you _liked_ -”

“You’re such a _jerk,_ ” Keith complains, face flushing. “The worst. Absolute worst.”

“I thought that was Lance?”

“Oh my god,” he whines. Shiro can’t hold his grin back anymore and even laughs when Keith huffs and flips him off. “Just- talk to Pidge or Hunk or whoever, I’m gonna just…”

“Sulk?” Shiro suggests, and okay, maybe when he was younger Keith really wanted a cool older brother and maybe Shiro was technically said cooler older brother, now, but he was quickly changing Keith’s mind about that.

“Chill. I was going to say chill,” he deadpans, rolling his eyes when Shiro laughs again. “God.”

He gets up to let Shiro sit in the chair to talk to Lance’s friends and goes to sit beside Krolia and Yorak. The space wolf perks up when Keith gets comfortable, and Keith scratches his ears. Yorak makes his weird purring noise in content.

Keith sort of wants to nap, but his frustration and worry for Lance keeps him awake. He does tune out Shiro and Pidge’s voices, though, and burrows his face in Yorak’s fur, sighing heavily. Yorak doesn’t seem to mind, so Keith keeps his face there.

“I need to properly introduce you and Lance,” he mutters a few seconds later, thinking out loud. Yorak purrs again. “I’m pretty sure he likes animals, so he’d probably like you. What do you think?”

He’s not expecting Yorak to respond in any way, but the space wolf purrs again and then starts to light up the way he does when he’s about to teleport. Keith raises his head but doesn’t let go, and the last thing he hears before they flash away is Shiro calling, “Keith? What-”

Then they reappear in another cockpit, and Keith lands on floor of it harder than he would've liked. He groans in pain and then snaps, “Yorak, what the hell?”

“Uh- Keith?”

Keith looks over and meets Lance’s wide, panicked eyes.

_Oh. Of course._

Keith manages to look away to glare at Yorak, who’s looking at him almost innocently. “You’re the worst,” he hisses, and Yorak just purrs again. _Amazing,_ Keith thinks, narrowing his eyes at Yorak before turning to face Lance again. Lance is still staring at him, still looking scared.

“What- how the heck did you get in here? And with your cool space dog thing?” he asks, speaking almost too fast for Keith. Keith shrugs and only then realizes that he’s actually speaking to Lance again after a few days of no contact. His heart starts pounding harder, and he rubs his arm nervously.

“Uh, I’m sorry,” he says, wincing. “Yorak just- he was playing around, I guess, and decided to… teleport us here. I’m lucky we didn’t end up out in space.”

Lance turns his gaze to Yorak, eyes somehow widening more. “He can _teleport?_ ” he says, and the way his eyes light up makes Keith smile involuntarily. It’s… cute. It really is.

Then Lance seems to remember that Keith is there too, and his smile sort of falls. “Uh… that’s pretty cool. Yeah.” He coughs and looks down at the floor.

Keith frowns, hurt. “Yeah, it is…” He shifts slightly and debates grabbing Yorak and making him take them back to Black, but then he blurts, “Did I do something to upset you?”

Lance jerks his gaze back up and looks at Keith, eyebrows furrowing. “What? No, of course not,” he says. His face starts turning bright red, which Keith doesn’t understand, but Lance seems to be telling the truth.

“Okay…” he says slowly. “Then… why haven’t you been up for talking lately? I mean, I understand if you’re just… not in the mood, but… I thought you’d let me know about that, not just… uh, ignore me.”

“I’m sorry,” Lance mutters, hugging himself tightly and dropping his gaze again. Keith hates that he’s the reason for the hurt look on his friend’s face, but he couldn’t go any longer without asking what the deal was.

“I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” Lance adds suddenly. His voice sounds so sad all of a sudden, and Keith has trouble keeping himself from walking over and throwing his arms around Lance. The thought reminds him of the time Lance went to him about the lion issue when Shiro came back, when Lance honestly thought that the best choice would be for him to just… step down. Keith also had the urge to just hug and comfort him then, but, like now, he couldn’t. So he holds himself back, though it pains him to do so. “I just… I, uh, I’ve been thinking about some things for the past few days that are… confusing, and I’m not sure what to do about them…?” Lance sighs heavily.

Keith isn’t sure what he means by that, but he knows that he wants to help him. “You know you can talk to me about whatever, right?” he offers softly, walking forward until he was just in front of Lance. He wants to hold his hand again, the way they did that night they decided to go home, but he decides against it. “We’re friends, Lance.” His heart thuds painfully at his own words.

“I know,” Lance says, finally looking back up at Keith. “And I’m glad to know you’ve got my back. But… I don’t think this is something you can help me with. Actually…” he trails off for a second and Keith tries not to feel bitter about Lance not wanting his help. “Uh, when do you think we’ll be landing again? I- I wanna talk to Shiro about this. Alone. I think he could help.”

_Shiro…?_ Keith thinks is surprise, wondering what the hell could be bothering Lance so much that he’d want to involve Shiro. “Uh…” he says aloud, tapping his fingers on leg while he thought it over. “Allura hasn’t seen a familiar inhabitable planet yet, so I dunno. But, uh, I could have Yorak bring him here, if that’s what you really want.” Yorak makes a chirping noise when he hears his name, and Keith smiles over at him. When he looks back at Lance, his friend is just staring at him, looking weirdly awed. “You good?” he asks carefully, and Lance blinks and then nods quickly.

“Yeah, yeah! Fine. Uh, yeah, that could work. The sooner I talk to him about this, the better,” he says quickly, smiling nervously, and Keith nods.

“Alright. So, uh, I hope Shiro can help with… whatever the problem is, and I’m sorry that I can’t.” He really wishes he could help Lance himself, but he doesn’t want to make his friend uncomfortable, so he’ll let Shiro do so.

Lance smiles gently. “Hey, it’s no big deal. Trust me, Shiro is the best bet. I’d go to Pidge or Hunk, but, uh… I dunno how helpful they’d be.” His smile turns sad, and Keith feels an irrational flash of anger at that whole situation all over again. _Chill out,_ he thinks to himself harshly.

“Yeah, I get it. Lemme send Shiro over, and, uh… talk to me again when you want to.”

“I always wanna talk to you,” Lance says immediately, and Keith’s face reddens too fast for his liking. “Anyway,” Lance continues quickly, “yeah. Uh…”

“I’ll go get Shiro,” Keith says, still blushing, and he awkwardly pats Lance’s shoulder. Lance laughs quietly and says, “Thanks, man. Have a good… day? Night? Whatever time it is, I mean.”

Keith smiles. “You, too.” Then he crouches down and grips Yorak’s fur. “Back to the black lion, buddy,” he says.

They flash away and reappear in Black’s cockpit. Shiro straightens in the chair when he sees them. “What the hell happened?” he says, frowning at them in a way that makes Keith think of a disappointed older brother.

“Yorak teleported us to Red,” Keith says, glancing out the window at Red again. He watches it for a few seconds, then turns back to Shiro. “Uh, I talked to Lance.”

Shiro brightens. “Oh! How did that go, then?”

“He’s… going through some confusing things right now, and he wants to talk to you about them, actually,” Keith replies, shrugging when Shiro’s expression turns confused. “I don’t know either. But… can you talk to him, anyway? I just want him to feel better.”

“Yeah, of course,” Shiro says softly, and Keith directs Yorak over to Shiro. Shiro leans down and touches the space wolf, and then they flash away. Keith stands up once they’re gone and walks over to the chair. He sits down, then tilts his head back and lets his eyes fall shut.

Eventually, he falls asleep wondering what Lance could possibly be telling Shiro about. He just hopes it’s nothing bad.

**Author's Note:**

> okay there's that, I hope this was enjoyable! (if I'm being honest I have no idea what my plan with this is anymore but it'll end eventually and (spoiler alert) it'll have a happy ending because it's what they deserve
> 
> some random notes about this fic: I really like the idea of Keith's space wolf randomly taking Keith to Lance, so ofc I did that here, and the reason I had Lance want to talk to Shiro is because the theory of Lance getting a bi arc next season and Shiro being the one to support him during it is a good theory and I want it to happen so that'll be the next part lmao
> 
> i'm so tired ahh ty to everyone who leaves a kudos/comment and I hope you have a good day/night!! :)
> 
> another random note: i recently watched Breaking Bad and holy shit that show is so good and Jesse Pinkman is too good for this world


End file.
